The present invention relates to sports and toy equipment design and manufacture. Specifically, a snowball-launching and batting apparatus with a retractable handle and cup member capable of quickly forming and launching snowballs, as well as storing formed snowballs and deflecting incoming snowballs from hitting a user.
The activity of a snow or snowball fight has been winter hallmark for decades, if not centuries. During such activities, the abundance of fallen snow to throw at a colleague or opponent may lead to limitless enjoyment for all parties. The activity itself may be seen as challenging in that an individual must exercise expediency in forming snowballs as well as keen senses to avoid being hit by an opponent's thrown snowballs. In order to aid in forming snowballs, formation assisting devices were designed to decrease the time to form a snowball.
Snowball formation devices known in the art usually comprise a clamp or molding apparatus designed to accept an amount of unformed snow inserted by a user, clamped or had a force exerted on it, and then removing the formed snowball for either immediate use or short-term storage in an area of play. These devices are usually more time-consuming than simply forming the snowballs by hand and either lack a launching mechanism or have a launching mechanism that further prolongs snowball formation and launch times.
Ball launchers known in the art are either configured to launch a single ball at a time or rely on pneumatic action to propel balls. Limited capacities further hamper the problems associated with modern snowball launching bats. A snowball fight relies on timeliness and efficiency in both forming and launching snowballs at an opponent. A device that can only make and launch one ball at time puts the user at a disadvantage, or renders the entire act of using the device moot as opposed to use of a user's hands.
Use of pneumatic mechanisms in ball launchers in the art has allowed for increased ranges when launching a ball. However, these mechanisms may be large, and the force associated with even weaker pneumatic mechanisms may prove too much when applied to a snowball. The force of launching a snowball from a pneumatic launcher would likely result in disintegration of the snowball upon launch, further rendering the use of such a launcher as a disadvantage.
Ball launchers known in the art are also inefficient when applied to the activities of forming snowballs. Known launchers utilize flat piston heads to propel balls, forcing a snowball-based user to form the snowballs separately and then insert them into the launcher for use. This lacks the formation efficiency and timeliness required for snowball fights. Other ball launching devices that utilize a rounded piston or cradle to hold the ball implement different structures to form said cradle. Aside from still lacking capacity for multiple snowballs, these devices still impede a user's ability to form snowballs with the launcher. Gaps between the sections of the cradle allow snow to be forced through them and into the other portions of the device, introducing problems with clean-up and maintenance, especially where pneumatics are used in the device.
Snowball launching devices have not been made to facilitate expedient formation of snowballs, nor have launchers been made to allow higher launch capacities and an ability to both utilize the structure of the launcher and the user's own mechanical force to defend against and successfully launch a semi-solid ball such as a snowball.
The present invention attempts to remedy the shortcomings of prior art ball launchers by providing a snowball launching and batting apparatus capable of expedient formation and delivery of snowballs at an opponent, efficient snowball capacity and storage, and structural stability for defending against incoming snowballs.